Method of bleeding slaughter animals



c. o. SCHMIDT, JR.. ETAL 3,127,635

ME'IVHOD or BLEEDING SLAUGHTER ANIMALS Filed April 15, 1962 April 7,1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 IDT JR. NKfiRT TOENEY? a INVENTORS OSCAR SCHM ICKQ LEY I i l ja W101 CARL FREDER BY CHAR April 7, 1 964 C. O. SCHMIDT,JR., ETAL METHOD OF BLEEDING SLAUGHTER AN IMALS Filed April 13, 1962 5Sheets-Sheet 2 CARL OSCAR C H D r JR FREDERICK A. ZAENKERT y CHARLEY E.WATSON -ATTORNEY April 7, 1964 c. o. SCHMIDT, JR., ETAL 3,127,635

METHOD OF BLEEDING SLAUGHTER ANIMALS Filed April 13, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet3 INVENTORS M u if FIG-7 wmwwmwm mmwwwww SCHMIDT JR. A. ZAENKERT yCHARLEY E. WATSON CARL OSCAR FREDERICK ATTOR v6 A ril 7, 1964 c. o.SCHMIDT, JR., ETAL 3,127,635

METHOD OF BLEEDING SLAUGHTER ANIMALS Filed April 13, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet4 INVENTORS CARL OSCAR SCHMIDT JR.

. FREDERICK A. ZAENKERT BY CHARLEY E. WATSON ATTORNEY A ril 7, 1964 c.o. SCHMIDT, JR., ETAL 3,127,635

- METHOD OF BLEEDING SLAUGHTER ANIMALS Filed April 13, 1962 5Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG-IO 24 38 Q4 FIG-l2 22 INVENTORS 38 CARL OSCAR SCHMIDTJR. FREDERICK A. ZAENKiERT (2 BY CHARLEY E. WATSON United States PatentOfifice 3,127,635 Patented Apr. 7, 1964 3,127,635 METHGD OF BLEEDINGSLAUGHTER ANKMALS Carl l'jscar Schmidt, .lr., Cincinnati, Frederick A.Zaenkert, Greenhills, and Charley E. Watson, Cincinnati, Unto, assignorsto The Cincinnati Butchers Supply Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, acorporation of Ohio Filed Apr. 13, 1962, Ser. No. 187,764 7 Claims. (Cl.17--45) The present invention relates to a method of and appanatus forthe bleeding of meat animals incident to slaughtering.

An object of the invention is to facilitate and expedite theslaughtering of meat animals, and to promote thorough bleeding of theanimals following the sticking operation.

Another object is to provide improved means of a convenient andeffective nature, for the bleeding of meat animals on a productionbasis, with resultant savings of labor and space in the abattoir.

A further object is to perform the slaughtering procedure in such manneras to produce meat which is unblemished and of high quality.

Still another object of the invention is to teach a method of bleedingmeat animals.

The foregoing and other objects are attained by the means describedherein and illustrated upon the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a bleeding conveyor embodying theteachings of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale taken on line 33 ofFIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a View, on an enlarged scale taken on line 4-4- of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged View of the loading end of the apparatus of FIG. 1showing the sticking platform in an elevated, animal-dischargingposition.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged plan view of the left end of the apparatus of FIG.1.

FlG. 7 is an enl rged plan view of the right end of the apparatus ofFlG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a top plan view showing a plurality of meat animals in theprocess of being bled according to the teachings of the presentinvention.

FIG. 9 is a side elevation of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a top plan view of a plurality of meat animals in the processof being bled according to the teachings of the invention.

FIG. 11 is a view taken on line 1-l11 of FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is a View taken on line 12-12 of FIG. 11.

in accordance with the present invention, an animal to be slaughteredand whose involuntary processes have been initially immobilized issuitably deposited upon a sticking platform in position on its sidewhere it is then stuck to initiate the bleeding. Thereupon the stickingplatform, with the stuck animal thereon, is tilted so as to turn or rollthe animal on its back and place it, feet upward, upon a moving conveyorwhich carries the animal until bleeding has been accomplished. Theconveyor then releases the bled animal to a subsequent processingoperation normal in the industry.

During the entire bleeding period, the animal is supported upon thebleeding conveyor with its feet uppermost, and with the head positionedso as to keep the neck wound open by allowing the head to sag or danglefrom the body a the conveyor carries the animal away from the stickingplatform. Thorough bleeding is thereby assured without bruising orotherwise depreciating the quality of the meat. The procedure outlinedabove assures also a saving of time and labor on the part of thesticker, as neither he nor :an assistant is ever required to arrange theanimal for proper disposition upon the sticking platform or the bleedingconveyor.

With reference now to the accompanying drawings, 12 indicates a conveyorframe preferably inclined as shown, with the receiving end 14 at a lowerelevation than the discharge end 16. At the opposite ends of the frameare pairs of rotary sprockets i8 and 29 over which are trained spacedparallel conveyor chains 2-2 guided in channels 24 of the frame, forcontinuous travel from end to end of the frame. The pair of sprockets 20is driven by suitable power means, such as an electric motor 26 and aspeed reducer 2S transmitting rotation to the shaft 19 of sprocket 2d,through the agency of belt or chain 3%]. The power means may be mounted,along with the discharge end of the conveyor, upon a stationary stand orsub-frame 32. One or more inter-mediate stands such as 34 may beprovided for adequately supporting the frame 12 intermediate its ends.

The conveyor chains at opposite sides of the main frame carry asuccession of rigid cross bars 36, which are secured at their oppositeends to the chains so as to travel with the chains at all times. Thecross bars are equally spaced apart, and extend substantially at rightangles to the line of tnavel of the conveyor chains.

From one cross bar 3d to the next, flexible suspenders 38 span the barsthereby to form with the bars a succession of cradles 37 each capable ofsupporting a meat animal lying on its back. The flexible suspenders 38may be in the form of link chains as shown, hanging loosely betweenadjacent cross bars 3d so as to produce a cradle of limited depth. Ifconsidered necessary or desirable, the suspenders 3d may be stabilizedagainst undue separation, by connecting them to a stabilizer element 4%}which may be in the form of a transverse link chain as shown. The chainelement 46 may be fixed to each suspender 38 which crosses it, therebyto maintain a condition of substantial parallelism between all thesuspenders of a cradle.

Due to the flexible nature of the cradles, the cradles will followsuccessively around the sprockets at the opposite ends of the conveyorframe [as the conveyor is driven by motor 26. That is, the cradles passreadily from the upper reach of the conveyor to the lower reach thereof,and vice versa, as the conveyor is continuouslv driven in one direction.

At the receiving end 14- of the conveyor frame is located the stickingplatform 42, which may be in the form of a rigid member or plate hingedas at 44 upon the frame for upward tilting movement in the direction ofthe discharge end of the conveyor. The platform may be tilted towardupright position by power means, one form of which is shown as adouble-acting air or hydraulic cylinder 46 to be controlled by thesticker or an assistant stationed at the sticking platform. In itsnormal home position, the platform 42 is substantially horizontal, as inFIGS. 1, 2 and 6.

The length of platform 42 may approximate the width of the conveyorframe, and its line of hinging is transverse to the frame. Accordingly,when a stunned animal, on its side is directed onto the platform, in thedirection of arrow 48, FIG. 2, the platform may be activated by powermeans as to dump the animal into one of the cradles of the conveyor,with the animal landing in the cradle on its back and with its feetuppermost. The stickof the animal is performed upon the platform, priorto tilting of the platform to dumping position. Bleeding of the animaloccurs on the platform and during transport from the platform to thedischarge end 16 of the conveyor, whence it is released for furtherprocessing.

In a typical installation, animals in stunned or immobilized conditionare slid in succession head-first and on their sides onto the stickingplatform, from an inclined chute-t) which is aligned with the platformat one side of the conveyor frame. To aid movement of the animal ontothe platform, the platform may be equipped with a brace of freelyrotatable conveyor rolls 52 arranged on spacedparallel roll shafts 54supported transversely of theplatform.

B lood fromhhe stuck animals may be collected in a trough 56 suspendedfrom the conveyor frame and extending lengthwise thereof. The bloodtrough has an open top which is disposed beneath the upper run of theconveyor, in position to catch the blood from the necks of the animalsadvanced by the conveyor. The trough may extend the full length of theconveyor frame if necessary or desirable. As shown in theexemplification of the drawings, the trough ends at 58, near thedischarge terminal of the conveyor. The width of the trough may belimited to the area in which blood from the animal drops through thecradle.

In accordance with the present invention, animals in immobilizedcondition arrive upon the sticking platform on their sides, are thenstuck and thereafter deposited upon their backs in the cradles of theconveyor. Bleeding progresses while the animals are transported upontheir backs, with their heads supported at a level substantially in thesupport level of their respective bodies or with their heads hangingpractically unsupported and away from the breast to keep the wound openthroughout the bleeding period. The animals thoroughly bled are finallydelivered from the discharge end of the bleeding conveyor.

With particular reference now to FIGS. 8-9 and 10 11, it should beunderstood that Whereas portions of the body-supporting suspenders 38are disposed beneath the heads of the stuck animals of the various orrespective cradles defined by said suspenders, the heads of said animalsnevertheless hang from their respective bodies since the heads areactually out of contact with elements 38 and therefore unsupported andhanging away from their respective breasts whereby to maintain theneck-wound in an open condition for facilitating free bleeding of theanimal while being conveyed as illustrated in said figures.

It is to be understood that various modifications and changes may bemade in the structural details of the apparatus disclosed, within thescope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of theinven tion.

What is claimed is:

l. The process of bleeding a slaughter animal after being stuck in thethroat, which consists in horizontally supporting and moving the stuckanimal on its back with its feet uppermost.

2. The step of the process as defined in claim 1 fur ther characterizedby the absence of contact of the head of the animal with support meanswhile being horizontally moved.

3. The process of slaughtering and bleeding slaughter animals, whichconsists of initially and stationarily positioning an animal whosevoluntary processes have been immobilized, sticking said animal while sopositioned, and of then supporting and moving said stuck animal on itsback and with its head hanging away from its breast until full bleedingthereof has been accomplished.

4. The process of slaughtering and bleeding slaughter animals, whichconsists of initially and stationarily positioning an animal on its sideWhose voluntary processes have been immobilized, sticking said animalwhile so positioned, and of then transferring the stuck animal from saidposition and of supporting and moving said animal on its back until fullbleeding thereof has been accomplished.

5. The steps of the process as defined in claim 4, further characterizedby the free hanging of the head of the animal away from its breastduring bleeding thereof.

6. The method of processing an animal in the production of meat, whichincludes the steps of delivering an animal, whose voluntary processeshave been immobilized, on its side onto a support means, sticking theanimal to produce bleeding at the neck, then elevating and turning theanimal through approximately A turn to efiect delivery and deposit ofthe animal upon a movable support means for bleeding, with the animalresting upon its back, and moving the animal along a predetermined pathuntil bleeding is complete, to a predetermined position.

7. The method as set forth in claim 6, with the step of maintaining thehead of the animal substantially unsupported during the bleeding periodso that the head hangs away from the breast of the animal while the feetextend upwardly from the body.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,980,679 Graham Nov. 13, 1934 2,253,913 Paterson Aug. 26, 19412,526,067 Murphy Oct. 17, 1950 2,841,817 Murphy July 8,1958 2,895,164Murphy July 21, 1959 2,954,863 Staples Oct. 4, 1969

1. THE PROCESS OF BLEEDING A SLAUGHTER ANIMAL AFTER BEING STUCK IN THETHROAT, WHICH CONSISTS IN HORIZONTALLY SUPPORTING AND MOVING THE STUCKANIMAL ON ITS BACK WITH ITS FEET UPPERMOST.